May Maps Issue Now Online!

Alright, cheapskates—it's your favorite day of the year, when BACKPACKER's newsstand issue goes live. This month's is a doozy: Our May Maps Issue featured groundbreaking maps, amazing life-list trips, and navigational skills out the wazoo. A sampling:

Climb Rainier or paddle the Everglades? Fastpack the Long Trail or savor Lost Coast sunsets? With 18 sweet trips to choose from–complete with tracklogs and detailed maps–your perfect adventure awaits.

Navigate Like a Pro

Get started with our basic map-and-compass primer. Then graduate to advanced skills for negotiating whiteouts, peaks, deserts, forests, and lakes. Plus: Our testers pick the best compasses, GPS units, and map tools.

Utterly, Hopelessly, Truly LOST

Not lawyer-approved: We blindfolded navigation novice Jim Thornton and dropped him by bushplane in the middle of Idaho's Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. Then it started snowing. Would you survive?